Moving a journal article-based upper-level microbiology "dry lab" from in-person to online instruction

• Main Author: Charles E. Deutch
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Society for Microbiology 2021-03-01
• Series: Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education
• Online Access: https://jmbesubmissions.asm.org/index.php/jmbe/article/view/2521

During the spring semester of 2020, a journal article–based upper-level microbiology laboratory course was offered through Western New Mexico University at Glendale Community College in Glendale, Arizona. Because most of the students had taken a lower-level microbiology class with a traditional “wet” laboratory, a dry lab format was used instead. In the first period of each two-week cycle, a microbiology article selected by the instructor from the primary literature was discussed using a PowerPoint presentation and a detailed study sheet. Students then turned in answers to five specific questions about the article. In the second period of each two-week cycle, students met to discuss possible research projects based on that article. They then turned in a two- to three-page research proposal describing their project. Before the COVID-19 pandemic became severe and the college moved to online instruction, there were active discussions between the instructor and the students in both class periods. After the campus was shut down, discussions of the journal articles and preparation of the research proposals were done online using Canvas as the learning platform. Students were provided with discussion sites but no video instruction systems were used. In general, the answers to the journal article questions and the quality of the research proposals were better during in-person instruction. Instructors may be able to adapt this journal article–based lab approach to a fully online format but it will require extensive training and the use of Zoom or other video instruction methods.